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Medal on Line as USA Hockey Faces Finns

Zach Parise #9 of the United States celebrates with his team after scoring a goal in the third period during the ice hockey men's quarter final game between USA and Switzerland on day 13 of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Canada Hockey Place on February 24, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada.

Updated at 6:42 AM PST on Friday, Feb 26, 2010

For this upstart, overachieving, suddenly Cinderella-fied U.S. men's hockey team, one more win means they're taking medals home with them.

It's back to the ice, with valuable neck wear on the line Friday at noon PST when the Yanks take on Finland in the playoff semifinals. The match will be broadcast online and shown live on NBC. Prepare for two-hour standstill, corporate America, because there's going to be a really awesome hockey game going on.

Craziest Olympic Helmets

Should the U.S. win Friday, they're assured at least a silver and will play for it all in Sunday's gold medal match. Should they lose, they'll be competing for the bronze Saturday.

Either way, one more win for Team USA hockey guarantees a Sunday date at the podium and a further demolishing of the Canadians in the medal count.

Olympian Efforts

These Finns are a stingy bunch, shutting out both the Germans and the Czechs to get to the playoff semifinals. But they've also lost to the very Swiss team that the U.S. beat 2-0 Wednesday.

Be aware that this Finnish team bounced the U.S. hockey team out of the previous Olympics in 2006 in Turin.

Quotables From Games of the Olympiad

But the Yanks are 4-0 and an a roll. "The guys who have been contributing and scoring, it's been a collective effort," U.S. left wing Zach Parisetold the Kansas City Star, after Wednesday's win in which actually he was the only one who contributed any scoring.